Heating system



F. A. GAUGER HEATING SYSTEM Jul 16, 1940.

Filed April 7, 1937 INVENTOR. @fid/%'fl, m gar ATTORNEY.

Patented July 16, 1940 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEATING SYSTEM Frank A. Gauger, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application April 7, 1937, Serial No. 135,419

3 Claims. (01. 236-10) This invention relates to a heating system and substantially instantly respond to variations in is particularly directed to a hot air system. temperature of the cold air returning to the fur- In hot air systems as heretofore known it is nace with the result that if cold air leaks in or the usual practice to put the furnace under the enters the house from any cause, as for example 5 control of a room thermostat and also under the when the door is opened, it immediately seeks the control of a limit thermostat so that the temlowest point and flows down the cold air return, perature of the air immediately adjacent the fursubstantially instantly ncreas the fl me at nace is limited to a certain definite maximum. the burner or burners in the furnace. As a consequence of this, it is apparent that when t e objects are to provide a heating system a front door or window is opened for instance, in which compensati is automatically Obtained 10 and cold air suddenly nters th hou there i for variation in outside air temperature so that it no response of the controls t thi entering 1d is immaterial whether or not the outside air is air. It does not arrive at the room thermostat for m ly cold or is rel v y mild, for the cona material length of time and not at all until it is trol of the furnace burner is a ed e y picked up and mixed with the hot air in the house from h temperature of the cold air returning to and finally lowers the general temperature of s bthe furnace so that if colder air returns to the stantially the entire volume of air in the house, at furnace. a greater e p se is Obtained and if which time the room thermostat will respond but milder air returns to the e. a l sser respon e the temperature of the air throughout the is obtained so that there is an automatic comtire house has been lowered prior to the response pensation Without any additional pp at for 20 of the room thermostat, variations in temperature of the outside air.

Another defect of the heretofore known'systems Further objects are to de a System Which is that when the limit control is set for a certain s so e that bsta i y instant response at outside air temperature, for instance for extremet e a e s obtained W e y 'iegistel is ly cold weather, and the room thermostat calls pe ed o c os d n any oo of the house. Obfor more heat, that the furnace will heat up until viously when the register is suddenly opened in either the room thermostat responds or the limit a room that was not heretofore heated, the precontrol responds. On the other hand, if the outviously stagnant cold air in that room will pass side temperature is fairly mild and the room down the cold air return from the room directly thermostat calls for increase in heat, it is obto the main cold air return of the furnace and VlOllS that the furnace will over shoot as the t arrive t th t 1 member i t main room thermostat does not respond until the major l i return and cause compensating volume of air throughout the house is of the temjustment of the burners t t care 01 t perature for which the room thermostat is set. it heating load. 0 t other hand, if a eq y e limit e ost t a the furregister is shut off in any room in the house, the 35 nace W111 allow the furnace to heat p to a point flow of air returning from that room is matethat was Suitable for extremely Cold Weather W th rially lessened so that the temperature in the cold the ultimate result that house will be air return will vary and thus substantially insiderably overheated. Obviously the reverse is tantly vary the response from t control true, for if the limit control was set for mild her in the main cold retum, thus automatigfgggsg g l g fig gig 53553: g g i' cally compensating for variations in heating load peratura 5 re that are from time to time placed upon the furnace.

This invention is designed to overcome the above noted defects, and objects of this inven- Furtiler oblects are to provide system winch is applicable to any arrangement of house, irretion are to provide a novel system of heating in which substantially instantaneous response to spectlve of the manner in which the rooms doors any variation is obtained in which the main com or windows are positioned in the house, the systrol thermostat or temperature responsive contem insuring Substantially instantaneous response trol member is located i th ld retum prefto variations in temperature of the returning air erably adjacent the furnace, and in which a limit to the ocontrol is employed in conjunction with this main An embodiment of the invention is shown in control member so that, under no conditions can e a panyi drawin n whi h: the furnace exceed a safe temperature, the sys- Fi ure 1 is a di ramm View win tom insuring that the burner in the furnace will fragment of a house with the hurneumd control 55 metal disk 24.

system installed, parts being broken away and in section.

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the floating throttle valve.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that a hot air furnace has been indicated at I and) is provided with one or more burners 2 which may be supplied from the gas mains 3. The pilot supply pipe is indicated at 4, the pressure regulator at 5 and the floating throttle valve at 6. The limit control in the bonnet of the furnace is indicated by the reference character I and the main control member 8 is shown as positioned in the main cold air return 9.

The diagrammatic view of Figure 1 indicates a fragment of a downstairs room by the reference character D and a fragment of an upstairs room by the reference character U. Each of the rooms is preferably provided with a hot air register or discharge opening and with a cold air register return. The hot air register for the lower room is indicated by the reference character l0 and the cold air return register by the reference character ll. Similarly the hot air register for the upstairs room is indicated by the reference character I2 and the cold air register for such upstairs room by the reference character l3.

The cold air returns through different por' tions of the house, for example the cold air returns I4 and I5, lead to the main cold air return 9 and thus return to the furnace.

The floating throttle valve is illustrated in Figure 2 and may take the form of that disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 37,673 filed August 24, 1935 for Automatic valve and system of control therefor. This valve provides a main valve and a throttling valve and a minimum flame adjustment. In the form chosen for illustration the valve is composed of a lower casing member [6 and an upper casing member I! between Which a diaphragm I8 is clamped. The supply pipe l9 opens into the cavity 28 in the lower casing l6 and the outlet pipe or discharge pipe 2| opens into the cavity 22 in the lower casing. The diaphragm is backed by a fairly large upper metal disk 23 and a much smaller lower These disks are clamped together by means of the sleeve like threaded member 25 and the clamping nut 26. A plug 21 is screwed or otherwise secured within the hollow sleeve 25 and is provided with a small bleed aperture 28 which is adapted to supply gas under prexure to the upper chamber 29 above the diaphragm, the lower chamber 38 below the diaphragm being constantly subjected to the gas pressure from the supply pipe l9. The upper chamber 29 communicates by means of the pilot bleed pipe 3| with the limit control I and with the main control 8 and from thence passes by Way of the exhaust pipe 32 into the combustion chamber of the furnace as indicated in Figure 1.

The pressure in the upper chamber 29 is supplied by the gas passing through the bleed opening 28, see Figure 2, and this pressure is either partially or wholly relieved through the relatively larger pilot line 3| under the control of the members I and 8, the members I and 8 being preferably gas thermostats. These gas thermostats 1 and 8 each comprise a valve in the pilot line 3| and thermostatic means which is effective to open the valve as the temperature to which the thermostatic means is responsive, falls below a predetermined value.

The valve portion proper comprises a main valve 33 which may be provided with a suitable gasket 34 and seats upon the valve seat 35. It has a fitting 38 screwed into it and extending up wardly therefrom and passing loosely into the sleeve like member 25. There is considerable clearance between the sleeve like member and the upper portion of the fitting 38 so that gas may freely pass to the bleed opening 28. A headed screw 31 is screwed into the upper portion of the fitting 3B and is positioned between the plug 21 and the partially closed end of the sleeve 25 so that there is lost motion or play between the head of the screw 31 and the diaphragm and consequently lost motion or play between the diaphragm and the main valve so that a limited amount of relative motion is afforded.

The valve also comprises a conical valve seat 38 which cooperates with a plurality of disks 39. These disks are of gradually decreasing size from the upper to the lowermost disk and are adapted to seat upon the conical valve seat 38. The disks are provided with apertures 40 which are arranged in a graded manner; for example the smallest aperture is in the lowest and smallest disk andthe largest aperture in the largest or uppermost disk, the other apertures being graduated in the regular sequence.

A sleeve 4| is provided with a reduced upper portion screwed into the fitting 36 and consequently is carried by the main valve 33. This sleeve passes loosely through the successive disks 3 39 and is provided with a lower integral collar 42. The sleeve is guided loosely by a hexagonal pin or guide member 43 which is provided with a lower threaded portion 44 screwed into an aperture in the lower casing member I6, the aperture being closed by a plug 45. A series of spacing collars 48 are positioned between successive disks and are loosely and slidably mounted on the sleeve 4|.

The conical valve seat 38 and the series of disks 39 with their graduated openings constitute a throttle valve and it is apparent that when the main valve is closed, all communication from the supply pipe l9 to the throttle valve is cut off. It is also clear that if the diaphragm moves upwardly for a full stroke, it will lift all of the disks from closed position and as it moves down the first disk to contact with its seat will be the uppermost disk and thereafter the next disk, and so on, until the last disk or smallest bottom disk contacts with the seat. In view of the apertures 48 through the disks being of substantially decreasing size from the largest disk to the smallest disk, it is apparent that a throttling action occurs.

It is also apparent that in opening the valve the lowermost disk will first be opened and thereafter the lowermost spacing collar 46 will engage the next disk and lift it from the seat, and so on, until all of the disks are raised. The valve, therefore, provides a graduated control for the gas flow and this throttling valve is wholly cut oil" whenever the main valve is closed. Even when all of the disks are seated a small amount of gas can pass through the lowermost of the apertures 40 in the bottom disk.

Minimum flow means is provided by the passageway 41 and this minimum flow is adjusted by means of the needle valve 48 so that manually adjustable minimum flow means is furnished.

the minimum flow passage however leading from below the main valve to the chamber 22 of the casting I 6 so that the minimum flow means is completely out off when the main valve is closed.

It is to be noted particularly that the main valve 75 ciently high, the pressure above the diaphragm when fully closed cuts off all gas pressure from both the throttling valve and from the minimum supply means.

The operation of the valve is as follows:

Assume that the gas thermostat 8 calls for an increase in temperature and that the limit control I is not calling for a shut down. The pressure above the diaphragm is relieved and the diaphragm tries to lift the main valve 33 from its seat. Finally when the pressure below the diaphragm is sufficiently greater than the pressure above the diaphragm, the main valve is lifted from its seat and this action is a quick motion as immediately upon the breaking of the seal between. the main valve and the seat, pressure forms below the main valve and thus an additional thrust is suddenly provided, thereby producing a quick opening motion of the main valve.

In this quick opening motion after the main valve is actually opened, the diaphragm immediately encounters the additional load of one or two of the throttling disks or component parts of the throttling valve assembly. Consequently the diaphragm does not fully open the throttle valve with a complete full opening motion. Instead it partially opens this throttle valve. This is a great advantage as it prevents the snufling out of a pilot light by a sudden rush of gas to the burner. This effect is noticed even with artificial gas but is very pronounced with natural gas.

If the pressure is completely relieved above the diaphragm, the diaphragm moves to its uppermost position and lifts all of the disks of the throttle valve assembly. If a lesser temperature is required, the diaphragm settles and the uppermost disk first seats, the remaining disks being held free of engagement with the tapered valve seat. This uppermost disk has the largest opening. However, if a still lesser temperature is called for, the diaphragm settles still farther and the next disk adjacent the uppermost disk engages the tapered valve seat. This disk has an opening therethrough of lesser diameter than that of the uppermost disk and consequently a greater throttling action occurs. As successive disks seat, greater and greater throttling action. occurs. However, the minimum flame adjustment is such as to maintain the flame and prevent any chance of flash back, even if the throttle valve is completely closed and the gas has to pass through all of the openings in the disks, even including the smallest opening in the bottom disk.

If this minimum flame is still too much, the main valve closes with a quick motion. This quick motion results from the fact that as the main valve approaches its seat, the gas pressure below the main valve is relieved and this has the effect of a sudden downward thrust which insures quick closing of the main valve. The change in pressure above the diaphragm may be caused by a. change in the controlling position of either of the gas thermostats 1 and 8. The operation was described above in connection with the con trolling action of thermostat 8. Normally, the valve of thermostat l is substantially open so that it does not appreciably affect the control of the valve by thermostat 8. Whenever the temperature in the furnace bonnet, in which thermostat I is located, begins to rise above a predetermined value, however, the thermostat 1 begins to close off line 3|, thus causing the diaphragm to move down and effect a further throttling of the gas, If this bonnet temperature rises sum- I 8 will be built up'suihciently high that valve disk 33 is quickly moved to closed position, thus completely interrupting the flow of gas to the burner. When the temperature to which thermostat I is responsive subsequently decreases, the pressure will be relieved above the diaphragm if the thermostat 8 is still calling for heat. This will permit the valve disk 33 to snap to its partially open position. As this temperature drops still more, the disks 39 will be successively picked up, thus gradually increasing the flow of gas to the burner until the amount of gas passing to the burner corresponds to the demand of thermostat 8.

It will be seen, therefore, that a quick opening and a quick closing main valve is provided and throttling is provided between the opened and closed positions of the main valve through a substantial range of motion of the mechanism.

Further when the main valve is closed, the throttling assembly, as well as the minimum flow means, is completely out of the range of the gas pressure.

It is to be noted also that this valve provides a gradual or graduated throttling and that the throttling assembly insures throttling through a wide range of motion of the mechanism and avoids, on the one hand, the requirement for a very delicate adjustment and, on the other hand, any possible fluttering during this throttling action. The thottling action is positive and the throttling mechanism is not dependent on any delicate adjustment of the mechanism or any ex treme accuracy in machining.

Additionally it is to be noted that there is considerable play not only vertically but laterally between the main valve and the throttling valve so that the throttling valve may independently adjust itself to its seat or guides and no binding whatsoever can occur.

It will be seen, therefore, that substantially instantaneous adjustment of the furnace is provided by this invention, irrespective of the point at which the cold air leaks into the house and -also irrespective of what additional load is placed Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a gas fired heating system; a warm air furnace including a gaseous fuel burner; a plurality of supply ducts leading from said furnace to a plurality of spaces to be heated to convey heated air to said spaces; a plurality of return air ducts one communicating with each of said zones and all communicating with a common return air duct connected with said furnace; means for modulating the gas-flow to said burner in accordance with-the temperature in the common return air duct comprising a throttling burner valve controlling the flow of gas to said burner,

a pressure motor comprising a movable wall op- 7 eratively connected to said throttling valve, means for applying gas pressure to said pressure motor to cause said pressure motor to vary the position of said throttling valve, said last named means comprising a gas line and a pilot valve in said gas line remote from said pressure motor, means for applying a biasing force to said motor which is varied as said wall is moved continuously in one direction so that said main valve is modulated as said pilot valve is modulated, and a temperature responsive element in said common return air duct for variably positioning said pilot valve and consequently said throttling burner valve in accordance with the average temperature of the air returning through the individual return air ducts; a shut-01f burner valve in series with said throttling valve and automatically movable abruptly between open and closed positions depending upon the value of a controlling condition, and adjustable bypass means for maintaining a minimum flow when said throttling valve is closed and while said shut-01f valve is open.

2. In a gas fired heating system, a warm air furnace including a gaseous fuel burner, a plurality of supply ducts leading from said furnace to a plurality of spaces to be heated to convey heated air to said spaces, a plurality of return air ducts one communicating with each of said zones and all communicating with a common return air duct connected with said furnace, a shut-ofi burner valve and a throttling burner valve controlling the flow of gas to said burner, a pressure motor comprising a movable wall operatively con-- nected to said valves, means for applying gas pressure to said pressure motor to cause said pressure motor to vary successively the positions of said shut-off and throttling valves, said last named means comprising a gas line and a pilot valve in said gas line remote from said pressure motor, means for applying a biasing force to said motor which is varied as said wall is moved continuously in one direction so that said main valve is modulated as said pilot valve is modulated, a temperature responsive element in said common return air duct for variably poi'tioning said pilot valve and consequently said burner valve in accordance with the average temperature of the air returning through the individual return air ducts, and adjustable bypass means for maintaining a minimum flow when said throttling valve is closed and said shut-off valve is open.

3. In a gas fired heating system, a warm air furnace including a gaseous fuel burner; a plurality of supply ducts leading from said furnace to a plurality of spaces to be heated to convey heated air to said spaces; a plurality of return air ducts one communicating with each of said zones and all communicating with a common return air duct connected with said furnace; means for modulating the gas flow to said burner in accordance with the temperature in the com-,

mon return air duct comprising a throttling burner valve controlling the flow of gas to said burner, a pressure motor comprising a movable wall operatively connected to said throttling valve, means for applying gas pressure to said pressure motor to cause said pressure motor to vary the position of said throttling valve, said last named means comprising a gas line and a pilot valve in said gas line remote from said pressure motor, means for applying a biasing force to said motor which is varied as said wall is moved continuously in one direction so that said main valve is modulated as said pilot valve is modulated, and a temperature responsive element in said common return air duct for variably positioning said pilot valve and consequently said throttling burner valve in accordance with the average temperature of the air returning through the individual return air ducts; a

shut-oil burner valve in series with said throttling valve and automatically movable abruptly between open and closed positions depending upon the value of a controlling condition, and adjustable-means for maintaining a minimum flow independently of said throttling valve while said shut-off valve is open.

FRANK A. GAUGER. 

